Cardio
by Oceanbreeze7
Summary: Challenge: A Fitness Exam...Tony Stark didn't do Fitness Exams. Tony wasn't weak, Tony lifted a 45 LBS Pipe Wrench with his left hand while he was DYING...Tony just didn't show off, that's different then being weak.


_**Hey! First of all, it was not my fault i haven't updated in a while! If you Pm'ed me, you'd know. My computer hasn't let me on Fanfiction to log on for almost all of October. It's not the fact that i'm ignorign you, i've actually been writing in that time, but i thought that i should at least let you know why this took me 'forever' to write. Thank you soooo much, Zach, on Fanfiction support for helping me out!**_

**Challenge Time! Okay, this is Tony going to a Fitness Exam! Anybody else wonder why everyone thinks he's weak while he has a workshop full of metal? No? Okay...just read. :)**

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Tony Stark was many things.

He could probably rant on and on about all of his titles, stating firmly many things that he _wasn't_, however the rest of the Avengers had heard it so many times before he rather not, even if it was a chance to gloat loudly.

One thing that Tony was rather unhappy about was the fact that Jarvis had received an email from SHEILD addressed to all of them, on a sole topic of something small…or large, depending on your point of view.

A fitness exam.

Tony Stark was not happy, and with this he was proud to gloat loudly how he'd bomb it with mournful colours.

Steve didn't feel concerned in the slightest, and Bruce knew he would be fine in the categories he would be _able_ to do without raising his blood pressure. There was a reason he practiced Yoga, and at this point, he was near positive that he was as flexible as a gymnast.

Tony wasn't sure if they had something the equal of a pushup in Asgard, but seeing the Pecs Thor had after one moment where his armor dented in battle, he _knew_ he'd have no problem with the tests. Natasha and Clint, they _grew up_ on those tests.

Which meant the only shocker would be Tony.

"No! This is completely unfair! This is against my rights- you can't just kidnap me and force me to do physical exercise!" Tony complained loudly on the video feed inside the living room, Steve sighed, giving him an unimpressed look.

"We'll be there tomorrow, Sir." Steve sighed, logging off while Tony shouted loudly in the background how he had rights.

Afterwards they dismembered, vanishing off to do whatever they pleased while Tony grumbled and made his way downstairs, growling at the thought of having to _exercise _on a SHEILD base…the helicarrier!

He didn't mind working out actually, he needed to actually, to be able to lift heavy machinery and contraptions to build things. _So_ many times he had made the excuse to sneak out of the tower to go to a 'club' while in actuality both Happy and he scooped out a new fighting joint that popped up, or took time off to go find some sort of exclusive gym where they could pound the locals down so much they kicked him out.

It never got old when they took down a 300 Lbs man with a Mohawk. Besides, his mustache was much better looking.

He stormed in his lab, scowling as he collapsed in a chair, sliding across the floor with Dummy looking up with an excited chirp.

He scowled, staring at a hologram screen in annoyance, thoughts pestering him with enough force that he couldn't _think._ Well, actually that wasn't true; he just kept thinking things he didn't want to.

"Jarvis, call up Fury." Tony snapped, more annoyed with Fury than mad, causing Jarvis to start the communication link with no time to spare at all.

_"Stark. You're not getting out of this." _Fury groaned, seeing Tony who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I'll do it on one condition." He argued back, seeing Fury's eyebrows lift.

_"One? Here I was thinking you'd make me sign a contract." _He stated dryly causing Tony to scowl.

"Oh ha ha, I want this thing done in private." He added, and Nick looking at him in slight disbelief.

_"You want this test done in private? You do realize at the end theirs a training stimulation created to find your weaknesses and improve on them as a team."_

"Then I'll play with the kids only then." Tony added, and Fury gave a groan, causing a slight grin to flash across Tony's face, knowing that he had already won the frustrating battle.

_"Fine Stark. You better be here on time, or your 'private' is through the window."_

"Also, you can't see my results until after the training stimulation at the end." He added smartly, this time causing Fury to scowl.

_"And why the hell not?"_

"Because I wouldn't want you to ruin the surprise." He quipped back, disconnecting the link before Fury could do anything, causing him to turn and look at the Iron Man plan in front of him (making it waterproof, he _really_ didn't want another repeat…)

He hummed a small tune as he tinkered a little bit- maybe he could actually pull this off…

Then he thought about when he was making Starkanium, using a 45 lbs Pipe Wrench in one hand with no strain at all, _while _he was dying…

He gave a small chuckle; maybe this wouldn't be bad _at all…_

_x-(X)-x_

It was the morning, and surprisingly enough, Tony had even called it quits to go to sleep early (11 was early for him) getting up with almost a complete 9 hours. Some times over a week he didn't even get that much.

"Don't over exert yourself, Stark." Clint smirked, and Tony rolled his eyes while Steve gave a low chuckle, Bruce looking calm, knowing that at most he'd be doing just a little bit of muscle, no cardio whatsoever…

"Yeah yeah, Legolas. Don't drop a weight on your little pedicure toe." He quipped back, causing Clint to roll his eyes as he split off from the main group, looking ready for no workout whatsoever.

He wore (designer) sweatpants and a sweatshirt that looked better suited for style then actual work, as well as brand new shoes (They weren't, they were actually very _very_ clean) and as usual, slicked back hair.

Of course, he was going to show off _later._

He found his little designated room, a training room cut off for the agents that had gone through major injuries and were recovering. Tony nearly snorted with how Fury had put him _here…_

"Mr. Stark?" A man asked, fairly fit with brown hair and a young look to him as he wore exercise pants and a clipboard. Tony rolled his eyes, walking over with a smirk.

"Hello, I'm agent Morreson. I'll be managing your fitness exam today." He spoke softly; causing Tony to sigh- this would be _long…_

"First of all, any previous injuries that make any exercise difficult or uncomfortable?" He asked softly, blinking widely as Tony nearly snorted.

"I have an Arc Reactor in my chest. What do you think." He deadpanned, and the man blinked, taken aback before scribbling out something he noted as 'crunches'.

If they expected him to do those…no, it just didn't work anymore.

"Anything else?" He asked, and Tony was tempted to send off a long complicated medical disorder that would fluster the man, but he knew Nick would get mad…

"So…first we can check to see how many pull ups you can do." He stated softly, and this time Tony actually did snort, not taking much care as he yanked off the sweatshirt- that thing wouldn't help anybody with the fabric and design.

The man's eyes bulged as he took notice of the obvious muscles on Tony's arms, the well kept muscles, triceps, biceps, even deltoid that was well formed but not on the point of bulging.

"Where's the bar?" He smirked, noticing how the man's eyes were on his muscles and not on the glowing blue ring on his black tank top he used while beating the snot out of various people.

Keeping the fact he was strong a secret was worth the look of shock on the man's face as he easily pulled of doing twenty five pull-ups before (just for kicks) pulling up hard enough to actually lift his _collar bone_ above the bar.

Thank god Jarvis was recording this.

"G-good." The man stuttered in shock, and Tony noted that he wrote in a shaky hand under pull up count _'No difficulty'_

Tony was thoroughly enjoying himself only ten minutes in.

He had easily completed the small things SHIELD was obviously thinking he'd struggle to pull off, how exactly did they think he moved in the suit? It wasn't all automatic, he had to move the joints too, and wearing a 200lbs suit of solid metal because difficult unless you grew fit enough to use it.

He was lounging around, amused how he had easily bench pressed his weight and more, were they expecting him to only be able to handle the bar itself?

Oh, Tony couldn't _wait_ to get in the ring.

"Okay." The man stated shakily, obviously still in awe over his muscle display, and this time started walking towards the door.

"All that's left is the pool." He added and Tony froze, eyes narrowing as he stiffened.

"No." He stated firmly, head lifting as the younger turned in confusion.

"What? But it's just a little bit of wat-"

"_No._ Tell Fury I refuse. I don't swim. Ever." He stated, adding it while the man looked at him hesitantly before writing down in the margins, _'Not a swimmer.'_

He'd get Jarvis to delete that later.

"Then, all that's left is to meet back up with the others. They did the pool first, so they should be finishing up." He stated warily, Tony give a sharp nod as he went to retrieve the useless sweat shirt and the long baggy sweat pants.

It was better if they underestimated him, it would be more amusing to see their reactions.

They walked, the man nervously looking at his notes as they walked into the main rooms where several trainers were around, holding stopwatches as Tony watched Steve finished a small dash, rather flustered with all of the quick turning.

"Hey! Starks back!" Clint shouted from over by the large cooler filled with many drinks, he grinned as he leaned against the wall, a towel around his neck.

"Friend Stark! It is depressing we could not achieve these fitness levels together." Thor added, looking oddly out of place in the bright red exercising outfit. Clint and Natasha wore their normal SHIELD exercising uniform, and Tony was already used to seeing Steve pounding sand.

"Hey Tony." Bruce smiled from his spot on the sidelines, obviously slightly bored from what he was actually allowed to do- it was good he would be allowed on the giant fight, he'd just call out something if he felt control slipping.

"Can't wait to see how long you last." Clint smirked playfully while Natasha rolled her eyes with a slight smile. Steve shifted nervously while Thor looked excited at the idea of a fight.

_"Avengers." _An intercom over the room stated, and eyes instinctively flashed to the tinted glass where they knew Fury would be sitting.

_"Pair up. We'll do a simple elimination. You call it, you're out. Last one standing wins, work with your partner." _Fury deadpanned before removing his hand from the button, Natasha sighing and making her way over to a large circle area obviously made for large groups of attacks.

"Are you coming, Friend Stark?" Thor blinked, noticing how Tony was eying the rings- bungee chord on the sides. Enough to pull and propel off of on the carbon fiber rims around, supporting the chords.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." He grinned, linking arms with an awkward Bruce as he pulled him towards the ring.

_"No serious injuries, yes I'm talking to you Agent Barton. Agent Romanoff. Go." _Fury sighed, and at once Natasha and Clint snapped into easy action.

Clint had his eyes on Steve while Natasha eyes Thor, who was somewhat used to fighting Lady Sif, enough so he knew what to expect.

"You're going to ignore us? That's insulting." Tony huffed and Natasha rolled her eyes, turning and hesitating mid pounce while she eyes Bruce nervously, before she was taken to the floor by Thor who chuckled as she struggled free before knocking him back.

"I'll just…leave." Bruce sighed, turning and slipping out from between the rings while Tony pouted, leaning against one of the poles while testing the durability of it from numerous tenses of his back.

Tony sighed, noticing how Natasha's fight between Thor seemed slightly more even then he expected, it seemed that Thor was used to fighting a slippery opponent and wasn't afraid to fight against the tricky moves Natasha posed.

It was Clint that almost made him chuckle.

Steve and Clint were awkward at best.

Steve was focused on muscle, and if his main move didn't work, he'd send an even stronger one. Clint used fast strikes that were followed up by strong hits or a fast jab that slowed into a punch. It was odd, seeing a battle of muscle, but Tony easily saw why a fight between Natasha and Clint was so deadly.

Natasha was quick and fluid, Clint was twitchy and strong. When paired, Natasha landed more hits, but Clint hit the hardest. If Tony combined and swapped tactics halfway through, it wouldn't be hard to overpower him and cause him to fall.

He only needed to stay on his feet and think things through long and fast enough- yet again thinking had been his best advantage for years.

He saw Steve slow, expecting the bold fighting moves and not seeing the uppercut until it knocked him down, he groaned, grabbing his jaw and pushing it back in place from where it dislocated firmly, causing him to wince.

_'That was his strongest hit.'_ Tony noted, and Clint looked rather achieved with his success where Steve chuckled, taking the offered hand that let him pull himself up, and walked towards the exit ring.

Tony casted an eye on Natasha, she was still attacking Thor who had a split lip and she had an increasingly swelling left thumb with a cut just above her brow.

Clint panted, wiping sweat from his eye as he moved, about to join Natasha in her fight.

"What, you're going to leave me standing here?" Tony asked, still leaning against the post with one eyebrow raised.

Clint turned in surprise, a short laugh before he crossed his arms.

"You want to get your ass kicked?" He laughed and Tony scowled, getting rather annoyed.

"Why is it that everyone thinks I'm weak?" He snapped, and Clint lifted his eyebrows as if snorting, and this time, Tony scowled.

"It's on. You and me." Tony nodded and Clint rolled his eyes, walking forward with a smirk.

Clint recoiled from the sudden quick jab with surprise, instinct causing him to jolt backwards to just barely avoid the sweeping hit that brushed his calf while a palm hit the side of his jaw, snapping his head around in surprise as he blinked, stumbling backwards in surprise.

"Did you just really?" Clint asked in almost stupid shock, as his hands brushed where Tony had just hit him, hard. A red mark was already forming while Tony's eyes were scanning Clint for any sign of movement or attack.

"Tasha-"

"I saw." Natasha grunted moves a little sloppier in her muffled surprise over Tony's attack.

Tony turned, easily pulling the designer sweatshirt over his head, exposing the impressive muscles that rivaled Clint's own. Clint looked at Tony's eyes in surprise before letting out a slow breath, training taking over.

They circled each other, already more advanced then Steve was, and Tony made the first move.

It was hard and fast, a punch to Clint's left side, where his hand quickly grabbed the fist, but Tony was expecting it, grabbing Clint's elbow and yanking, hyper extending the muscle and causing the hand to flinch, releasing his fist before he had any control over it.

"Stark." Clint grunted in annoyance while sending a dummy punch and a kick in response, both of which Tony avoided with guarded eyes.

Tony knew that Steve and Bruce were watching him, probably the majority of SHIELD who came just to see him get his ass kicked. They were probably slack jawed at how many muscles he had, none the less, knew how to _use them…_

Clint moved, this time striking first as he made a hard move towards Tony's liver. Tony turned, reacting with a move he _knew_ Clint wouldn't know as he slid one leg to knock out his right foot, and then used his shoulder, to propel him over his back then onto his feet again. The trick was, the normally Clint would land on his side or back, by now he knew how to avoid harm in that fashion, but landing on your feet ruined the impact, causing his legs to buckle as he feel hard onto the ground, one knee pressing him further down.

"Dang Stark- _what_ is that?" Clint cursed from the floor, and Tony chuckled, but winced as Clint slammed his head back, into Tony's lungs, and Clint let out a hiss of pain as his head hit something _hard,_ and something made Tony gasp as he stumbled off, shaking his head as Clint realized that something was _glowing_ in Tony's shirt…

"You keep the suit battery on you?" He groaned, rubbing his head while Tony just rolled his eyes, looking back at Clint as they moved again.

Clint punched, and Tony grabbed his arm, bending it normally before jamming it up and slamming his other hand in his armpit, causing the shoulder blade the shriek in agony as it subluxed before sliding back in, but Clint reacted to the odd move, bringing his knee up and into Tony's stomach, who choked and sunk, grabbing Clint's leg and propelling him over before rolling and both of them jumping to their feet.

Clint had _no_ idea how Tony lasted as long as he did, maybe he was a master black belt, but that wouldn't be possible. Clint had been attacked by moves he had never seen before, it was similar to the style used in Iran, but yet slightly different.

"You give in?" Clint asked, and Tony glared, and Clint realizes what this was.

Tony was _proving himself._ And Clint was the test dummy who was going to experience it.

It wasn't long later when Natasha had Thor pinned, having dislocated one shoulder and pinning the other with her petite weight, but force, causing him to grudgingly give, only to watch Tony fight with such ferocity that it astounded her.

Nick Fury was also astounded, how _had Tony become so good?_ He was never this good of a fighter- so what bought this on? How had he gained so much muscle?

They were at it, and suddenly, Tony completely _changed._

His moves were less power based and more fluid, graceful and quick to dodge. It was quickly tiring out Clint, but they still went at it, ignoring the large bruises noticeable In the shape of fists on Tony's arms, and the black eyes on Clint's face.

"This is…surreal." Bruce mentioned, having walked over next to her as she watched her partner tough it out under attacks that were dangerously precise and constantly moving…

"He looks like you do." Steve mentioned, looking at Natasha who blinked in surprise. She looked like that? Fluid as a snake and just as deadly?

A snake vs. a bear. One may have a biased opinion, but a snake was more lethal, a bear more deadly.

_"Agent Barton…Stark. Stop this at once." _Fury stated over the com. But he was ignored as the two continued blows, Tony using moves that Natasha had never seen before, just as the door slammed open loudly, the two jumping apart, panting heavily.

"Both of you- calm down." He growled, and Tony slowly let his eyes drift apart, causing Clint to sigh in relief as his muscles throbbed and shook depending on which ones.

"This fitness examination is complete. You are free to leave. "He stated stiffly before turning and walking away, Tony lifting his breath and shouting over as Fury tensed up.

"Hey Nicky! Those results weren't forged either!" He shouted, nearly laughing as Fury growled, walking away.

The others left, heading for the showers as Tony leaned against the back of the ring, cooling down while Clint snaked his way under, humming slightly as if to say high.

"…I've never seen those moves before. Where did you learn them?" Clint asked curiously, and Tony shrugged, giving a slight twitch.

"…They're moves from a small village in Afghanistan." He shrugged, but the answer caused Clint's eyebrows to shoot up before they stood in silence.

A full minute passed before Clint awkwardly held out his hand, Tony arching his brow in confusion.

"…sorry I made fun of you…Truce?" Clint asked with a slightly hopeful look, and Tony blinked, looking at the hand, then Clint.

_Bam!_

Clint groaned, clutching his cheek where Tony's iron hard calloused fist had just slammed into him, knocking him to the ground before sweetly responding and shaking his hand.

"Yeah, truce."

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**Once again, sorry for the wait. Read the italics at the top for information on my wait.**

**Review~!**

**~Oceanbreeze7**


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